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Quid Pro Quo Contributions. What the IRS Says Token Value Benefits Fair Market Value (FMV) Fundraising Events Fundraising Auctions Seating at Athletics Events “Games of Chance” and Policy Raffles. Quid Pro Quo Contributions. Quid Pro Quo Contributions. What the IRS Says
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Quid Pro Quo Contributions • What the IRS Says • Token Value Benefits • Fair Market Value (FMV) • Fundraising Events • Fundraising Auctions • Seating at Athletics Events • “Games of Chance” and Policy • Raffles
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • What the IRS Says • A payment to OU from a donor partly as a gift and partly in consideration for goods or services (e.g. food, beverages, other things of value). • The value of the benefits (premiums) the donor receives is a key factor in determining the amount of the actual gift. • The actual gift is only the amount of the contribution that exceeds the value of the benefits received by the donor. • The items must have a “substantial” value to be considered as benefits and therefore, to be subtracted from the donors contribution. Items that have insubstantial (token) value need not be subtracted from the contribution.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Token Value Benefits • Small items of merchandise or other benefits (bookmarks, calendars, key chains, mugs, posters, t-shirts, etc.) offered when donors make a contribution. • Token value in relation to the amount contributed • Burdensome to inform each donor of the amount of the payment that is deductible. • Inconsequential or insubstantial so that the full amount of the donor’s payment should be deductible as a contribution. • IRS has provided rules under which a donor may disregard the value of token benefits and deduct the full amount of a payment.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Token Benefit Rules (2010) • A payment is fully deductible if: • OU informs its donors how much of their payment is a deductible contribution and: • The fair market value of all the benefits received by the donor is not more than $96 or 2% of the payment, whichever is less, or • The donor’s payment is $48 or more and the only benefits received are token items that bear OU’s name or logo and have an aggregate cost of no more than $9.60. • (DON’T WORRY – WE HAVE EXAMPLES !)
Notice the tickets did not cost OU anything but they did cost somebody something. Quid Pro Quo Contributions
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Fair Market Value (FMV): • The value of benefits received by the donor must be based on the FMV of the benefits determined through a “good faith” effort, not necessarily the cost of the items. • OU has a procedure for determining FMV for goods and services provided to donors. • OU has an Excel template to help determine the FMV of the goods and services.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Fundraising Events: • The following steps should occur for all fundraising events where something of value is exchanged for a payment: • Annual Giving department to be notified by the event organizer prior to event materials being created. • Annual Giving will work in collaboration with the event organizers to complete the fair market value (FMV) worksheet to determine: • An estimated per person cost for the event • The payment amount to attend the event • The FMV of any and all goods and/or services provided to the payee in return for their payment to attend the event. • Annual Giving department will provide the costs, payment amount and FMV to the director of development information services for review and approval. • The vice president or assistant vice president for university relations will receive the documents for final approval.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Fundraising Events: • The FMV Calculation: • Determine all the costs (direct and indirect) associated with the goods and services received by the donor. • Determine the average cost per person. • The FMV is what the average person would pay for a “like” event at a “like” venue, not necessarily the cost. Therefore, if the calculated cost per person is $100, but the average person would pay $75 for a “like” event at a “like” venue, the FMV would be $75. • Is the donor receiving a benefit that OU is not paying for? This also must be factored in. • The FMV must be communicated to the donor on marketing materials / invitations.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • The FMV must be communicated to the donor on marketing materials / invitations. • Policy #500 includes the following disclosure obligation: • “In accordance with IRS requirements, invitations, reply cards, tickets, letters and other printed materials connected with a fundraising event must also reflect the fair market value of any benefit to the donor. This applies to all fund-raising events, including those that are underwritten.”
Example FMV calculation worksheet • On UR’s shared drive in the “DO Material” folder
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Donors Opting out of Receiving Goods and Services: • Needs to be communicated to OU prior to the event and prior to processing the payment. • We can’t give a donor an amended receipt with a higher gift amount just because they told us after the event that they were not able to attend. • The IRS says even if a donor does not take advantage of the benefits, the benefits were still provided.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Fundraising Auctions: • The bidder must be informed of the FMV of the item being auctioned prior to bidding in order to claim they had charitable intent by bidding in excess of FMV, • if not: • No charitable donation was made by the winning bidder, • because: • The winning bid becomes the basis for the FMV as the transaction became a “purchase”.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Tickets for seating at an athletic event • In the institution's stadium • If a donor receives the right to purchase preferred seating or any seat for an athletic event in return for their gift, only 80% of their contribution is tax deductible. • Preferred seating: usually when tickets are readily available • Any seat: usually when tickets are unavailable but ones comes available. • Donor must be made aware of this prior to the transaction being made – they don’t like surprises.
Quid Pro Quo Contributions • Bottom Line: • The amount received from the donor may not be entirely tax deductible or countable in reports.